No visible means of support? Ironing boards! (According to a Bob Stevens cartoon depicting the wings.)
Haha, I have a book of Bob Stevens’ cartoons called “There I Was, Flat On My Back…” that I found at a used bookstore, a totally random find, I didn’t know who he was and wasn’t looking for military cartoon books specifically, it was just lying there and it looked quirky, so I bought it. Were those cartoons from some kind of official intra-military newspaper or something, or was it more of an “underground zine” kind of thing for military pilots?
I got my copy from Barnes Aviation (Bill and Shouling Barnes, son and daughter-in-law of ‘Pancho’ Barnes) in the late-'70s. I also have More There I was…, Prop Wash, and If You Read Me, Rock The Tower! I’ll have to try to find them.
Bob Stevens was a pilot in and after WWII, attaining the rank of Colonel. Per the link, Stevens flew ‘almost every fighter in the WWII arenal (except the P-39).’ After retiring from the USAF, he became a cartoonist. His cartoons appeared in Air Force magazine. Stevens died in 1994. I wish I could find a really good biography, and a collection of his works on the Internet
Errata: ‘Arsenal’, not ‘arenal’.
That made me chuckle, the typo and the cartoon!
Further to the Osprey thing; the prototype the Osprey was based on was almost the same size as the Dynavert initially. It grew as more was demanded of it. From Wikipedia:
XV-15
General characteristics
Crew: two (pilot, copilot)
Length: 42 ft 1 in (12.83 m
Wingspan: 57 ft 2 in (17.42 m) with turning rotors)
Rotor diameter: 25 ft (7.62 m)
Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
Airfoil: NACA 64A015
Empty weight: 10,083 lb (4,574 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 13,000 lb (6,000 kg)
Engine power ratings:
1,550 shp (1,156 kW) normal takeoff power (10 min max)
1,802 shp (1,354 kW) emergency power (2 min max)
Fuel weight: 1,436 lb (651 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Avco Lycoming LTC1K-4K (modified T53-L-13B) turboshaft engine, 1,550 shp (1,156 kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 300 knots (345 mph, 557 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 knots when in airplane mode ()
Range: 445 nmi (515 mi, 825 km)
Service ceiling: 29,500 ft (8,840 m)
Disc loading: 13.2 lb/ft² (73 kg/m²[10])
Power loading: 1.35 kg/kW[10]
Hovering altitude: 8,800 ft (2,635 m) out of ground effect
CL-84
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Capacity: 12 passengers
Length: 47 ft 3.5 in (14.415 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 4 in (10.46 m)
Height: 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m)
Wing area: 233.3 sq ft (21.67 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 633-418
Empty weight: 8,417 lb (3,818 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 14,500 lb (6,577 kg) (STOL), 12,600 lb (5,710 kg) (VTOL)
Maximum width over propeller tips:34 ft 8 in (10.56 m)
Maximum height over propellers during wing tilt: 17 ft 1½ in (5.22 m)
Powerplant: 2 × Lycoming T53 shaft-turbines, 1,500 shp (1,100 kW) each
Main rotor diameter: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
Propellers: 4-bladed, 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m) diameter
Performance
Maximum speed: 321 mph (517 km/h; 279 kn)
Cruise speed: 301 mph (484 km/h; 262 kn)
Never exceed speed: 415 mph (668 km/h; 361 kn)
Range: 421 mi (366 nmi; 678 km) with max wing fuel, VTOL, & 10% reserves
Rate of climb: 4,200 ft/min (21 m/s)
Disk loading: 195 kg/m²[13]
Power loading: 1.35 kg/kWI note that one of the problems was the strength of the downwash, and that the Osprey has two really big rotor/propellers instead of four medium-sized ones. That might make the difference because one complaint about the XC-142 is that it wouldn’t be practical to use except on prepared landing pads.
There’s something about WWII air combat that just blows my mind…it’s like, planes had barely existed for a few decades, and suddenly the whole country re-aligned its economy and industry and military towards cranking out giant numbers of these machines and training guys to fly them, and then just like that there was this insanely gigantic aerial war with a whole mythology of customs and traditions and skills and shared experiences…when I think about it all, it feels more like some fictional mythological epic than real life, yet there are still guys walking around now who participated in it all. It’s crazy! It’s crazier than Star Wars, which was clearly inspired by it.
And the winner is…
Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster by Emigepa on DeviantArt (Not an actual photo but it/was is a real thing)
But the Gee Bee is ugly and dangerous… ;D
I agree one the importance of aircraft in WWII. Boeing submitted plans for what would be the B-29 in 1940. Why wasn’t development of aircraft accelerated?
Indeed. I built a model of it when I was a kid. I have no idea why. I believe it was the only non military aircraft that I built.
That is the cutest airplane I’ve ever seen, much more than the Guppy with it’s unsettling size. It looks like a little toy piggy on its back waiting for a tickle.
:dubious:
I stand by my decision.
Pistols at dawn.
ETA: I built a model of the SR-71 when I was a kid.
Moderator Note
Leo Bloom, no it’s not acceptable since it not only changes the sense of the original post, but you are using the edit to poke fun at the original poster. No warning issued, but don’t play games with the quote function.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I’m sorry for bringing politics into it in the first place
Somewhere online I once read the account of one of the pilots who flew it. He said something like “For an hour I flew it and for an hour it tried to kill me”.
And I’m sorry for teasing you. No opinion expressed pro- or con on the political content itself–I merely remembered when, a long time ago I introduced a side comment similarly in GQ, and not a mod but another poster jumped down my throat.
I guess I gotta go back to ranting in Report Posts about how the thread is being derailed by extremists…
Best,
Leo
The B-29 is often described as the most expensive and complicated weapons program of WW2. Features like pressurised cabin and remote controlled guns were the bleeding edge in the early 40’s. The 4 28-cylinder Duplex cyclone engines were the biggest and most powerful ever seen. In 1944 when operations began they were rated for replacement after 75 hours of flight, some of the cylinders after 25 hours. The development of the B-29 already was accelerated to breaking point.